>> pelley: tonight, the defense secretary warns of new attacks and destructive as pearl harbor and 9/11. >> they could contaminate the water supply in major cities. >> pelley: david martin on the threat of cyber warfare. did the vice president get it wrong about the deadly attack in libya? >> we weren't told they wanted more security. >> pelley: reports from jan crawford and nancy cordes. los angeles makes space for a spacecraft as "endeavour" lands in its new home. bill whitaker is there. and steve hartman "on the road." they were separated at birth. now they're together till death do they part. >> reporter: so you think this was meant to be? >> absolutely. match made in heaven. captioning sponsored by cbs

this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. the united states is facing an attack threat equivalent to 9/11, an attack that would be carried out by computer. that was the stark warning from defense secretary leon panetta. he described a cyber pearl harbor in which attackers could take over computers that control the transportation system or a utility with deadly consequences. panetta's dire prediction comes after a massive computer attack on the world's largest oil company. so we asked david martin to tell us more. >> reporter: u.s. officials say a cyber attack against aramco, the world's largest oil producer, has been traced to hackers inside iran. another volley in an increasingly high stakes war going on in cyberspace. and defense secretary panetta warns potential enemies, including iran, are developing the capability to launch devastating attacks.

>> the collective result of these kinds of attacks could be a cyber pearl harbor. an attack that would cause physical destruction and the loss of life. an attack that would paralyze and shock the nation and create a new profound sense of vulnerability. >> reporter: iran does not have that kind of capability yet, but u.s. officials say several recent cyber attacks have been traced to hackers inside iran. panetta stopped short of blaming iran, but in a speech last night described the cyber attack against aramco which occurred two months ago. >> more than 30,000 computers that it infected were rendered useless and had to be replaced. >> reporter: the attack-- using a virus called shamoon-- did not disrupt oil production. but a couple days later shamoon struck again, this time against the world's second-largest producer of liquefied natural

gas. >> the shamoon virus was probably the most destructive attack that the private sector has seen to date. these attacks mark a significant escalation of the cyber threat. >> reporter: they could be in retaliation for cyber attacks against iran's nuclear program. also, recent attacks on the web sites of american financial institutions including bank of america and j.p. morgan chase could be iran's way of fighting back against economic sanctions. the attacks overwhelmed the sites with e-mails denying service to legitimate customers. that would be a minor disruption compared to what would happen if, as in this test on an industrial turbine, hackers took over the computer controls of critical infrastructure. panetta also said the pentagon has made significant advances in determining where attacks are coming from. and he warned the u.s. is prepared to strike back. >> pelley: david, thanks very

much. it is down to 25 days in the presidential campaign and mitt romney is up by two points. a gallup poll out today has romney at 49%, president obama 47%. that is within the poll's margin of error so it is still essentially a tie. the two campaigns tangled today over the definition of one of the shortest words in the english language. the question is whether vice president biden misled the american people in the debate last night and whether he had misused the word "we." biden was responding to charges that the state department turned down requests for more security in libya before the terror attack last month that killed the u.s. ambassador and three other americans. here's what the vice president said. >> well, we weren't told they wanted more security. we did not know they wanted more security again. and, by the way, at the time we were told exactly -- we said

exactly what the intelligence community told us that they knew. that was the assessment. >> pelley: the fight today was over what he meant by "we." our campaign 2012 correspondents on r on the story and we'll go first to jan crawford who gotten a earful from the romney campaign today. jan? >> reporter: well, scott, mr. romney is interpreting the "we" to mean vice president biden was speaking for the entire administration, that the buck stops with the president. and today and his campaign are spinning it that way. >> he's doubling down on denial and we need to understand exactly what happened as opposed to having people brush this aside. >> reporter: campaigning in virginia, romney pointed to congressional testimony this week from two state department officials, including former regional security officer eric nordstrom who said multiple requests for security at the consulate in benghazi were denied. >> it was abundantly clear: we were not going to get resources until the aftermath of an

incident. >> reporter: romney said biden's response that the white house didn't know about security concerns in benghazi raises more questions. >> when the vice president of the united states directly contradicts the testimony-- sworn testimony-- of state department officials, american citizens have a right to know just what's going on and we're going to find out. and this is a time for us to make sure we do find out. >> reporter: now, throughout this campaign romney's focus has been the economy. he has not been hitting the administration for his handling of the benghazi attack during his campaign rallies and in his stump speeches, but, scott, campaign advisors tell me tonight that is going to change. romney will continue challenging the president. >> pelley: jan, thank you very much. with the obama campaign's definition of "we," we turn to nancy cordes at the white house tonight. nancy? >> reporter: scott, you might not think a two-letter word would be open to so much parsing

but it came up again and again in the white house daily peres briefing today with the spokesman vigorously defending vice president biden. >> the vice president was speaking about himself and the president and the white house. he was not referring to the administration, clearly, since there was a public hearing for four and a half hours where it was discussed openly by individuals working at the state department requests that were made. >> reporter: white house spokes man is jay carney said there's no reason the vice president would have been briefed on diplomatic security requests because those staffing levels are determined by the state department. >> good morning, everyone. >> reporter: at the state department today, secretary clinton did not dispute mr. biden's contention that initial intelligence about the attack led to the administration's early inaccuracies. >> there is much we still don't know and i am the first to say that. but as someone who has been at the center of this tragedy from

the beginning i do know this: there is nobody in the administration motivated by anything other than trying to understand what happened. >> reporter: white house officials pointed out today as vice president did last night that it was republicans led by congressman ryan who voted to slash diplomatic security funding. scott? >> pelley: nancy, thank you. we are learning more tonight about the most costly enemy attack ever in afghanistan. it was about a month ago that two u.s. marines were killed and six marine attack jets were destroyed in a raid on camp bastion. the jets cost between $20 and $30 million each. the base is one of the most heavily defended in the war so we asked kelly cobiella to tell us about the attack through the words of the marines who were there. >> reporter: the attack seemed to come from out of nowhere. a robgd propelled grenade set

the fuel storage tanks on fire. the base turned into a battlefield. lieutenant commander heather tracy was off duty reading when it started. what was your first sign that something was going on? >> i could hear gunfire, multiple different loud noises. i wasn't exactly sure where they were coming from or what direction initially. >> reporter: staff sergeant gustavo delgado, a logistics specialist by day, grabbed his handgun and ran toward the sound of fighting. >> i couldn't see anything. we could just see shadows and smoke and as i started getting closer that's when you could hear the rounds whizzing by. >> reporter: 15 insurgents were carrying rocket propelled grenade launchers, assault rifles and suicide vests. they split into three teams, going after harrier jets and attack helicopters. major general mark gurganus is the top marine commander on the base. do you know how they got through all the defenses. >> i can tell you exactly how they got in. there's no mystery to it.

there were no suicide bombers, there were no tunnels. it was a tool about this big and it cuts wire. >> reporter: that's it. a wire cutter. >> that's it. that's it. that's how they got in. >> reporter: the taliban released a video days later. it showed them practicing with wire cutters. investigators say they had detailed knowledge of the layout of the base. >> there are guard towers with guards in them. we have more sophisticated surveillance equipment, but it can't see everywhere all the time. >> reporter: lieutenant colonel christopher raible, a fighter pilot and commanding officer, died defending the base along with agent brat bradley atwell, an aircraft technician. >> pelley: and kelly cobiella is back from camp bastion and is reporting from our bureau in kabul, afghanistan. kelly, how did the u.s. put an end to the attack and what happened to the attackers? >> well, it finally ended, scott, when helicopter pilots in

the middle of this gun fight got into their helicopters, off the ground and were guided to the insurgents on the ground by the marines on the ground who were fighting them. they killed all but one. the final insurgent was injured and is being held at the base. >> pelley: kelly, thanks very much. in syria today rebels fighting the assad dictatorship posted video of an air defense base that they claim to have captured the uprising against the 42-year-old dictatorship started 14 months ago and has turned neighborhoods into rubble, including those in aleppo, once a city of three million people. it's hard and hazardous for reporters to get there, but clarissa ward returned to aleppo on assignment for "60 minutes." >> the town is totally different. people have deserted. whoever left here, they're living under bombardment.

>> reporter: dr. maher nana left libya 13 years ago. >> people are just expecting to get hit at any time. >> reporter: he runs a family practice in delray beach, florida, but now spends spends much of his time traveling in and out of syria on behalf of an organization called the syrian support group. its goal is to transform the free syrian army from a disorganized grouping of militias into a coherent force. but it also works closely with the u.s. government to identify credible rebel officers like colonel oqaidi and report on their progress. >> these commanders, they vow to protect civilians, they vow to protect democracy, they vow to obey international laws. >> reporter: making vows is easy. >> yes. >> reporter: sticking to them is much harder. >> yes. >> reporter: how can you be sure that these men are going to stick to those vows? >> well, this is what you do.

you provide and you check and you provide and you check and you provide and you check. and you make sure that they are standing for their values. >> pelley: clarissa, as you say in your story, the free syrian army is really not so much an army but a bunch of militias with different agendas. you've been reporting from syria from the very beginning. who are the rebels today? >> scott, think back to my first trip to damascus a year ago. people were talking about freedom, dignity, they were talking about democracy. nobody even mentioned religion. now you have rebel fighters who are actively calling this a jihad. and part of the reason for that is that this fight has been going on for so long and the syrian people have paid such an enormous price that they really feel deeply disappointed and even actively angry with western democracies who they feel have simply left them to die. >> pelley: a story and a war with a long way to go. clarissa thanks very much. you can see the rest of

clarissa's report from inside syria on "60 minutes" sunday at 7:00, 6:00 central time. who won this year's nobel peace prize? nobody was expecting this! we'll talk to the doctors trying to save that 14-year-old activist shot by the taliban. and "endeavour" goes where no shuttle has gone before when the "cbs evening news" continues. the way you want? u y can orencia help? [ woman ] i wanted to get up when i was ready, not my joints. [ female announcer ] could your "i want" become "i can"? talk to your doctor. orencia reduces many ra symptoms like pain, morning stiffness and progression of joint damage. it's helped new ra patients and those not helped enough by other treatments. do not take orencia with another biologic medicine for ra due to an increased risk of serious infection. serious side effects can occur including fatal infections. cases of lymphoma and lung cancer have been reported.

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>> pelley: police in pakistan said they've made some arrest in the case of malala yousafzai, the teen who was shot after standing up to the taliban. doctors say it will be a couple days before they know if she survives. elizabeth palmer is in pakistan. >> reporter: malala yousafzai has been moved twice to the best military hospitals in pakistan. though unconscious and on a ventilator scans show the bullet didn't penetrate her brain as deeply as feared and her chances of pulling through have improved said the army suggest, junaid kahn. >> there are fairly good chances in this picture that if she's going to have any problem with speech or certain technical issues, we have to rate and see. >> reporter: it was malala's high-profile campaign to guarantee girls an education that put her on the taliban hit list. as students around the country prayed for her recovery today,

pakistan's prime minister came to the hospital to pay tribute. >> reporter: but to demonstrators in islamabad, those were empty words. pakistanis are used to hearing about acts of violence, especially violence against women. but this attack on malala has shocked people who thought they were unshockable. immediately after the shooting, her friends described the savage attack. shazia ramzan, who was also wounded said armed men stopped the school bus that day and demanded "which one is malala?" then, as kainat riaz, they started shooting. it's a miracle that at such close range the gunmen didn't kill these two girls or malala who now needs round-the-clock military protection as she

fights to recover. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, islamabad. >> pelley: the nobel peace prize was awarded today to the european union, the political and economic group of 27 countries. the citation says the e.u. has maintained peace on the continent that started two world wars. the shuttle "endeavour" makes her final voyage. that's next. cond... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. and i was told to call my next of kin. at 33 years old, i was having a heart attack.

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picture today. see the sign right there in the upper left? bed, bath & beyond. well, beyond took a new meaning when the space shuttle rolled by today in los angeles. after 25 trips into space, the shuttle is heading to retirement and here's bill whitaker. >> reporter: just before midnight los angeles got the first glimpse of something never seen before: a 78-ton spaceship, five stories tall, 78-foot swing span moving majestically through dense city streets. it was a dramatic entrance fit for hollywood. >> gave me goose bumps. >> reporter: project manager ken carrion is responsible for getting "endeavour" through the streets of l.a. >> i had no idea how the community would be coming together. it's just so special. >> reporter: it has been a remarkable journey for the "endeavour", from outer space to inner city. this might not be its riskiest mission, but possibly its most complicated.

its 12-mile trek at two miles an hour goes over freeways, down boulevards, through neighborhoods, almost 400 trees were cut down to make way. 2,700 metal plates laid down to strengthen roadways. power lines were lifted, stoplights removed. so it's like an obstacle course. >> it is an obstacle course, yeah. >> reporter: mike lofts is one of six operators using this joy stick to maneuver the six computerized transporters carrying "endeavour." they can move in any direction. mike's father gordon is an operator, too. this is not the biggest thing you've ever moved. >> definitely not. nobody has ever moved anything more significant. >> reporter: "endeavour" should reach its new home at the science center saturday night. bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >> pelley: steve hartman's "on the road" is next. begin.

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you might not just be getting older. you might have a treatable condition called low testosterone or low t. millions of men, forty-five or older, may have low t. so talk to your doctor about low t. hey, michael! [ male announcer ] and step out of the shadows. hi! how are you? [ male announcer ] learn more at isitlowt.com. [ laughs ] hey! coming up on 9 news now at 7:00 the coldest night of the season is upon us. we have freeze warnings, frost advisories and they have been expanded. we'll have the latest. stay tuned. >> pelley: it's a real life >> pelley: it's a real life fairy tale with a happily ever after ending. after ending. steve hartman starts with the once upon a time beginning, "on the road." >> reporter: there's some truth to one what they say-- that all a wife cares about is her husband's wallet. >> here it is! >> reporter: if he carries a picture of their wedding in it you know it's a pretty happy couple.

this weekend, bob and dee solano owners of an aoeual kwan restaurant in mount vernon, new york, will celebrate 50 years of wedded bliss. 50 years of a marriage that seemed to be destined from day one-- long before their first date, even. do you remember your first date? >> yes, i believe we went to the movies. >> we did? or did we go to your house? no, no, no, i can't remember. >> i can't remember exactly. >> reporter: fortunately for the sake of this story -- >> it's 50 years ago! >> reporter: what they did on the date isn't as important as what they discovered on the ride home. >> i was stunned! >> reporter: bob had just asked dee a simple question. >> when's your birthday? may 8. i said that's my birthday. what year were you born? ' 41. i was born in' 41. >> then we were going what hospital? >> mount vernon! >> reporter: same hospital, same doctor just a few hours apart. >> i said this can't be. >> reporter: for bob that sealed the deal right there. >> i had no doubt in my mind. >> reporter: so you think this was meant to be? >> absolutely.

match made in heaven. >> reporter: sometimes finding true love isn't so much a search as it is a state of mind. once you believe your lives are destine it had rest usually comes easy-- for the most part. >> all give and take. >> i did most of the giving but -- >> oh stop it! >> (laughs). >> reporter: of course, laughter helps, too. >> she's stuck with me. >> reporter: this weekend the solano's four kids will be throwing them a party to celebrate the couple who came into this world pretty much back to back, spent the last 50 years side by side and will no doubt stay together forever and ever. steve hartman, "on the road," in mount vernon, new york. >> pelley: (laughs) and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, i'm scott pelley. i'll see you sunday on "60 minutes." good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

this is 9 news now. win or go home, we are just 90 minutes way from game five and the winner meets san francisco sunday. we have live coverage from nationals park starting with our own derek mcginty. all right, derek, what's the atmosphere out there right now? it's got to be building and building. >> reporter: the atmosphere is freezing cold. that's what the atmosphere is. it's a brisk night out here at nats park, anita. that will get the blood flowing, as if we needed any help for game five of the national league division series, the nationals all excited about a game that quite frankly a lot of folks thought might not happen, but as we b, one swing of the bat -- know, one swing of the bat can change everything. jayson werth made that happen last night for the